Dark Side
by tsukiryoushi
Summary: In an AU version of KH, Sora has failed to save kairi, and bring Riku back from the abyss. Two years later, he has become a member of a team of freedom fighters, who fight to defeat the evil Xehenort, his right hand man Riku, and Organization 12


AAH!!! What am I doing?! I have too many other stories already to start another!

Ah well... this is pretty much just to get my creative juices flowing, cause I'm having trouble writing at the moment.

Anyway, this is an AU, about what would happen if Sora failed to save kairi and bring Riku back to the sight of good, plus a boatload of other "what-ifs" that I can't reveal yet. Enjoy!

(I own nothing. Disney/Square-Enix owns it all.)

As he felt himself fall, he was almost certain his time had come.

_No way will I survive… _He thought. _If the fall itself doesn't kill me, the impact will._

He wasn't even entirely certain how he'd gotten here—or even where "here" was—but he didn't care either. After all he'd been through, death didn't scare him in the least…

---

_As Sora jumped from one floating platform to the other, trying to find the source of that roar he'd heard, he soon heard voices nearby. One of which was very familiar…_

"_No vessel, no help from the Heartless… so tell me, how'd you get here?"_

"_I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost." Sora didn't know who this deep, gruff voice belonged to, but he could sympathize. He had come here looking for someone, too. And he was definitely not leaving here without her! "I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!"_

"_Take her if you can."_

_Sora, now certain he knew the other voice, finally reached the platform where the two speakers were, only to see Riku with his sword drawn. He had just injured the other speaker—who Sora now saw was some kind of… beast—and knew he was most likely about to finish his adversary off._

"_Stop!" Sora shouted, as Goofy and Donald arrived behind him._

_Riku finally noticed Sora and turned to him, a cruel look on his face. "So, you finally made it." He said, in a condescending tone. "About time. I've been waiting for you. We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you." _

"_Riku..." Sora said pleadingly. _

"_But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters."  
"What are you talking about?"_

"_Let the Keyblade choose...its true master." Riku held out his hand._

_Suddenly, to Sora's amazement, he felt the Keyblade pulling from his grasp. He tried to hold onto it, but it simply disappeared, reappearing in Riku's hand. _

"_Huh?" Donald asked.  
"What!?" Goofy gasped.  
Riku inspected the Keyblade with a grin. "Maleficent was right," he finally said, turning to look at Sora. "You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door...and change the world."_

"_But that's impossible,." Sora protested. "How did this happen? I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!"_

"_You were just the delivery boy," Riku replied cruelly. "Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this."_

_Riku tossed a Wooden Sword to the ground next to Sora and turned to leave without another word._

_Sora fell to his knees. How could this have happened to him?_

_Donald, meanwhile, looked over the situation, and nodded. "Goofy," he said, as he turned to Riku's direction. "Let's go. We have to remember our mission." Donald didn't like it… but he had his orders. He just couldn't disobey the king… even for Sora's sake._

_Goofy seemed more hesitant. He turned to look at Sora, with a worried look on his face. "Oh! Well, I know the king told us to follow the key and all..." He said. "But..."_

_Donald remained firm, and didn't spare a glance back. Goofy finally gave in, and with a final apologetic look followed Donald._

_Donald stopped only for a moment. "Sora," he said slowly, "sorry."_

_With that, Donald and Goofy left, leaving Sora alone._

_Sora felt betrayed, abandoned… but worse, he felt he had failed. Failed Donald and Goofy, failed Riku… failed Kairi. What was the point now?_

_But just then, Sora heard a noise and looked up to see the creature Riku had injured trying to get up and follow after Riku._

_With a growl of pain, the beast fell back to the ground, and Sora rushed to help him._

"_Hey, don't move. You're hurt." He said, as he helped the strange being up._

"_Why... Why did you...you come here?" The Beast asked. " I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here."  
Sora, picking up the wooden sword, nodded in understanding. "Me too." He said. He gripped the handle of the wooden weapon tightly in his hands, as new hope filled him. "…I'm not gonna give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me."_

_He turned to Beast, who nodded back. Sora used a potion to heal his new companion, and they headed for the looming castle that lay ahead…_

---

Before he could remember any more, Sora finally felt himself drifting out of consciousness. He decided not to fight it, and welcomed the relief of a dreamless sleep to take him, as he fell even farther towards the surface of whatever world he was now in.

He had completely lost consciousness by the time he hit the water.

---

It was surprising to Ariel just how quiet everything was today. As she swam along, exploring like usual, she noticed just how much less commotion there was without Flounder, or even Sebastian following her like they usually did.

Still, she couldn't decide whether the silence was relaxing or lonely.

_At least everything is peaceful. _She thought to herself. But just then, she noticed something had just fallen into the water nearby, and it was sinking fast.

She looked, and soon realized it was a living thing, and it seemed badly hurt. Quickly, Ariel swam to the being, and soon realized it was human. She had never seen one in real life before, but she pushed her excitement aside.

She finally reached the sinking human, and caught him. Her heart skipped a beat when she finally saw who it was.

"Sora?!" She gasped. She was shocked at how badly injured he was. He was bleeding from several deep cuts in his arms, legs and chest, and his right arm seemed broken. But worst of all was the wound over his right eye.

Knowing he was running out of air, Ariel swam as fast as she could to the surface of the water.

Once there, she was relieved when Sora took a deep breath and she quickly scanned the horizon for some solid land to take Sora to. She soon found a nearby beach, and pulled Sora to it. She carefully laid her friend down on the sand, and inspected his wounds. "How am I going to stop this bleeding?" She asked herself. "I need to find something to bandage him with, but what?"

She looked around, and met with the sight of an old shipwreck on the shore. Its sails, though torn and tattered, were still there. She ripped away some of the material and tore it into bandages, with which she carefully tended to Sora's wounds.

_What could have happened to him? _She thought. She looked down at his face, and was pained to see him frown, as though he were having a terrible nightmare.

"Sora…" she whispered, gently touching his cheek, "how did this happen…?"

---

_Sora and Beast had fought their way valiantly through Hollow Bastion, making their way through several mazes, and twists and turns, fighting off Heartless left and right. Finally, they had made it inside._

_Beast pounded the door open, and he and Sora stepped into a large room. Across from them were two stairways that wound around a fountain area, and met at a higher level, where Sora could see a doorway._

"_Be on your guard," Beast warned. "They're close, I can feel it. Are you ready for them?" Sora nodded, and the two prepared to continue, when Beast sensed something else. This time, something familiar. "Belle?"_

_He turned around fast, and saw a beautiful woman with brown hair in a yellow dress stand in the doorway. He smiled, and thought he had found her at last, but his smile faded when shadows surrounded the woman, and she transformed into nothing more than a Heartless._

_With a roar of anger, Beast lunged for the Heartless before Sora could stop him. He jumped the creature and killed it, but the doors shut behind him, separating him from Sora._

"_Quit while you can." Sora turned to see Riku, Donald and Goofy standing before him._

"_No," he replied. "Not without Kairi!"_

_Riku's clothes changed before Sora's eyes. He now wore dark armor, emblazoned with a symbol similar to that of the Heartless. "The darkness will destroy you," he said._

_Sora stood his ground, and glared angrily at his former friend. "You're wrong, Riku! The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't touch my heart. My heart will stay with my friends. It'll never die!"_

"_Really… well we'll just see about that!" Suddenly, Riku shot a blast of dark energy at Sora. Sora flinched, expecting the worst to happen._

_But then, the blast was deflected by a shield. "Sora ain't gonna go anywhere!" Goofy declared, holding up his shield as he stood before Sora. _

"_You'd betray your king?" Riku demanded.  
"Not on your life!" Goofy shot back. "But I'm not gonna betray Sora, either, 'cause he's become one of my best buddies after all we've been through together!" He turned to give Sora a thumbs-up, to which Sora gave a grateful smile. "See ya later, Donald," Goofy called to his quacking companion. "Could ya tell the king I'm really sorry?"  
Donald hesitated a moment, but finally shook his head. "Hold on, Goofy!" He called at last. "We'll tell him together." Donald approached Goofy and Sora, and looked up at Sora with an apologetic expression. "Well, you know..." he said, forcing a grin. "All for one and one for all." _

"_I guess you're stuck with us, Sora," Goofy added with a smile.  
Sora could only look down at his feet. "Thanks a lot..." he said after a moment, "Donald, Goofy."_

_The two smiled at their friend, but were suddenly pushed back as Riku lunged at Sora._

_He brought the Keyblade down before Sora could react, and Sora fell to the ground with a scream of pain. Riku at first felt pride at his victory… but then, he looked down at the Keyblade. The end was stained red… blood red. This was never how it ended when he beat Sora at their sparring matches. He knew it wouldn't be, so… why did the sight of Sora's blood make Riku's blood run cold?_

"_Sora!" Donald and Goofy cried, and rushed to Sora._

_Sora forced himself to sit up, despite the awful pain he felt in his head. He raised his hand to his right eye, but was shocked to feel something warm and wet. He pulled his hand away and saw that it was blood… and what was worse was that he couldn't see from his right eye._

_Goofy barely managed to keep himself composed as he looked at the deep gash over Sora's eye, and turned to Donald. "Can't we heal him with your magic or somethin'?" He asked._

_Donald shook his head, and closed his eyes to avoid the awful sight. He became overwhelmed with guilt as he turned to Goofy with a frown. "No," he replied, "it's too deep… I can't help him."_

_Riku looked on in shock, until he finally forced himself to turn away. "Leave now, Sora," he said. "You're finished… don't make this any harder." With that, Riku left._

_Sora was in too much pain to take notice, and began to feel weak. Beast, finally able to return to the Entrance Hall, and rushed to kneel by Sora, along with Donald and Goofy._

"_We gotta get him outta here," said Goofy. Donald agreed, and Beast was about to lift him, when Sora finally shook his head._

"_No," he said firmly, though his voice was weak. "I can't leave… Not without Kairi…"_

"_But Sora, you're too badly injured!" Donald protested. "You're bleeding terribly!"_

"_Yeah, you can't just go off fightin' in your condition!" Goofy added._

"_I have no choice…" Sora groaned as he forced himself to his feet. "Kairi needs me… I can't fail her!"_

_Goofy and Donald were about to protest again, but Sora just ignored them and tried to move foreword. He lost his balance, however, and was about to fall when Beast caught him. _

_Beast gently set Sora back down on the ground, and tore off a piece of his cloak to bandage his injured eye. "This will stop the bleeding, at least," he said. "But you're still weak from the shock, and the blood you already lost. I'll have to help you for awhile." Sora turned to give Beast a confused look. "I told you, I came here to find Belle," Beast explained. "And I won't leave without her. You're looking for someone too, aren't you? Well, you helped me this far. So I intend to repay you by helping you as well."_

"_And we'll be right by ya, too," Goofy added with a smile, and Donald could only smile and nod in agreement._

_Sora nodded his head in appreciation, and barely managed to utter "thank you." Beast lifted him onto his back, and the four proceeded into the castle…_

---

Sora slowly began to awaken, and was met with the familiar sounds of the ocean washing up on shore. That long-lost smell of salt from the sea greeted his nose, reminding him of those days he spent on the island with Riku and Kairi… they seemed so far away, and yet it was like he was back again.

_Could it have just been a nightmare? _He asked himself. He slowly sat up and looked out at the ocean, but he was definitely not on his island. So where was he?

Sora reached up to touch his face, and felt a bandage over his eye. More were carefully wrapped around his other wounds as well. Who could have done that?

"Hello?" Sora called, only to find his voice hoarse and feeble and his throat aching and dry. Nobody answered.

Almost immediately, Sora began to feel lonely on this long stretch of sand. But then, out of the water nearby emerged a familiar figure, who swam to shore towards him.

"Ariel?" he gasped in surprise.

"You're awake!" Ariel called with a smile as she came as far onto the shore as she could. "I'm so glad, I was worried."

"Were you the one who bandaged my wounds?"

Ariel nodded. "You were so badly injured… Sora, you're lucky to be alive."

Sora frowned, and turned away. "If you can call it luck," he whispered. But before Ariel could say anything, Sora turned to her again with a small smile. "Thanks. I honestly hadn't expected to see you here… or anyone for that matter."

Ariel nodded, and looked over Sora's injuries once more, before finally asking, "How did it happen…? What happened to Donald and Goofy?"

Sora heaved a heavy sigh, and looked out at the ocean. "It's a long story… very long…" Ariel nodded in understanding. It must still be painful for Sora to talk about. Sora, remembering his dry throat, coughed and looked around again. "Don't suppose you'd know where I could get some fresh water, do you? And maybe some food?"

"No, I'm sorry," Ariel replied. "I'm afraid I won't be much help on land… but I think I know who would be."

---

Later, Sora sat near a warm fire and drank heartily from a coconut shell filled with fresh water from a stream nearby. He also had a nice pile of bananas and other fruits to eat till he was strong enough to find his own food. It was all thanks to Ariel's friend who had found the food, water and firewood for him.

But Sora wondered… was it worth it? Ariel's friend, a seagull, perched himself on Sora's shoulder and had been squawking on and on for the past hour about things like "dinglehoppers" and "snarfblatts." and It was driving him nuts!

"Snarfblatts," the seagull explained, "date back to pre-hysterical times, when humans would sit around all day, and stare at each other." To show an example, the seagull put his face right up against Sora's. "It got very boring. So, the humans invented the banded, bulbous snarfblatt to create music!"

"Fascinating…" Sora muttered sarcastically.

Ariel just giggled lightly at the two of them. "Scuttle knows a lot of things about humans," she explained. "He always tells me about the treasures I find."

"I wouldn't exactly call his knowledge completely accurate," Sora grumbled before taking a bite from a banana. "I mean, you do know _I'm _a human, right?"

"You are?" Scuttle asked, causing Sora to groan in frustration. Ariel just giggled again. "Well, anyway," Scuttle continued, "I gotta be going. But I'll check up on ya now and then, Zorba."

"Sora," Ariel corrected.

"Oh, right. Sorbet. Anyway, take care of yourself. See ya, Ariel!" Ariel returned the farewell, and Scuttle flew off. Sora breathed a sigh of relief.

"I know he can be a little… enthusiastic," Ariel said apologetically, "But he means well."

"I know," Sora replied as he stared into the flames.

Ariel heard just how tired Sora sounded, and forced her questions back into the back of her mind for the millionth time that day. She turned and noted with a sad sigh that the sun was beginning to set. No doubt her father would be wondering where she was.

"I have to go, too," she said, turning back to Sora. He turned to look back at her, too. "Do you need anything else? Will you be okay on your own?"

Sora nodded with a smile, though it wasn't much more than a smile of gratitude. "Yeah, I'll be okay, Ariel. Thanks again."

Ariel nodded, and turned to dive back under the water. She stopped only to give a final glance back at Sora, and noticed he held something in his hand… something which he stared at so intently that Ariel wondered if it had some kind of magic to it. She finally just shrugged her shoulders and dived beneath the waves.

Once Ariel was gone, Sora lay down on the sand and closed his eyes to drift off to sleep. The small star shaped charm made of shells still clutched tightly in his hand.

---

_Soon, Sora, Beast, Donald and Goofy made it through the castle, into the Chapel. By now, Sora was walking on his own, but he was still terribly weak._

_In the Chapel waiting for them stood none other than Maleficent, grinning wickedly as her foes appeared. "I'm afraid you're too late," she said, feigning a tone of sympathy. "Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable."_

"_We'll stop it," Sora shot back. After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!"_

_Maleficent could only laugh. "You poor, simple fool," she chortled. "You're clearly in no condition to fight. And you wouldn't stand a chance against me, even if you were! Your friend Riku should have taken pity upon you and finished you off while he was able. But he was too weak… he ran off and is now hiding away with that foolish girl whose heart has been lost."_

"_Kairi? Where is she?!" _

"_I'm afraid you'll never know that… now, to end your foolishness once and for all!"_

_Maleficent shot a burst of dark energy, which struck Sora in the chest and sent him flying back. Donald and Goofy rushed to help him up, while Beast lunged foreword and tried to slash Maleficent with his claws._

_Maleficent blocked the attack with her staff, but Beast caught it in his paws and tried to pry it from the witch's hands. She proved surprisingly strong, however, and the two wrestled for the staff._

_Sora, meanwhile, sat up and growled in frustration. How could he save Kairi?!_

"_Do you seek the power to overcome your enemies?" Sora looked up in surprise to see the hooded figure he had encountered in Destiny Islands. He was barely visible in the dark room._

"_Who are you?!" Donald demanded and stood defensively in front of Sora._

"_I can grant you the power…" the man continued, and held up a hand to reveal a long weapon. It looked like a Keyblade… but it was a dark color, with a red hilt, and the teeth at the end of the blade looked like a flame, with the image of a half heart cut out of it. "All you have to do is take it…"_

_Sora stared in awe at the Keyblade before him. With it, he could defeat Maleficent and the Heartless… and more importantly, he could save Kairi. And maybe give Riku something in return for taking his eye._

"_What's the catch?" he asked, causing Donald and Goofy to gape at him in shock._

"_No catch," the man replied. "Take this Keyblade, and victory will be yours. Make your choice, Sora…"_

_Donald and Goofy tried to convince Sora not to trust the man, but Sora ignored their pleas. Standing up, he turned to the man and held out his hand. "I accept."_

_Beast continued to struggle with Maleficent, but finally she summoned a bolt of purple lighting which struck Beast and he fell back. She was about to strike him with her staff, when she felt a blow to her chest, which threw her into the wall._

"_What…?" she gasped, as she looked to see Sora standing with his new Keyblade at the ready._

"_Now who doesn't stand a chance?!" Sora demanded, his eye burning with rage._

_Maleficent jumped for Sora, only to be beaten back again by a string of blows. She growled in frustration, till she got a good look at Sora's weapon._

"_A new Keyblade?" She gasped. "It's not possible!" Suddenly, she opened a portal and rushed through, as though she feared something terrible._

_Sora groaned in anger and turned to the others. "After her!" he bellowed, and rushed through the portal. Donald, Goofy and Beast watched him in confusion, but quickly rushed through after him._

_On the other side of the portal was a long hall, and locked inside capsules on either side were six sleeping maidens. No doubt six of the seven "princesses." Sora, Donald and Goofy recognized Alice and Jasmine right away, but the other four were unknown to them._

_Beast, however, recognized one of the princesses. She was the same brown haired woman the Heartless had impersonated. "Belle…" he gasped, placing a paw on the glass over her face._

_Sora watched his friend and sigh sympathetically. Beast had found who he was looking for, now it was time for Sora to do the same. "Come on," he said to Donald and Goofy. "He'll be okay. We have to find Kairi."_

_Donald and Goofy nodded, but gave a final glance back at Beast before following Sora down the hall, and up to the large platform underneath the keyhole._

_Sora quickly climbed the stairs, and found Kairi lying motionless on the floor. He rushed to her immediately, not even noticing a barrier had blocked Goofy and Donald out._

"_Kairi! Kairi!" Sora pleaded, as he lifted Kairi up and gently shook her. "Open your eyes!"_

"_It's no use," Sora turned around to see Riku, sitting among the rubble at the base of the keyhole, his face turned away from Sora, as though he couldn't bare to look at him. "Kairi's lost her heart… she can't wake up."_

"_I think we know who to blame for that," Sora growled, standing up to face Riku. _

_Riku finally turned back to look at Sora, and frowned. "Yeah… guess we do." Riku stood up, and summoned the Keyblade. "Looks like this will be our last sparring match, Sora. I'm sorry it had to end this way."_

_Sora raised his Dark Keyblade, and readied himself. "It didn't have to be this way, Riku…" he replied. "You made your choice."_

_Without another word, Sora and Riku lunged for each-other, and the two Keyblades collided._

_Sora and Riku battled for what seemed like hours, as they both ducked and slashed and blocked to rival each other's skill. Finally, however, Riku had the upper hand, and mercilessly attacked Sora, leaving him battered and bleeding. Even the bandage over his eye had been torn off in the onslaught. Sora, however, did not go down so easily. He, too, gave Riku a good number of injuries, and even managed to slow him down with a kick to Riku's leg, which yielded a nauseating crack sound._

_But, no matter what he could do, Sora could not seem to overcome Riku and the latter finally managed to push Sora into a corner, holding the Keyblade to his throat. _

"_Looks like… I win again…" Riku said softly. "Goodbye, Sora… it was nice knowing you."_

_Sora braced himself for the final blow, but suddenly he felt a strange rumbling. Riku felt it as well, and he gasped in fear. "She couldn't have!"_

"_What?" Sora asked, as the rumbling became worse._

"_Maleficent!" Riku growled. "She's detonated the self-destruct system she had placed in this castle! The whole place is coming down!"_

_No sooner had he said that than the walls began to crumble, and a huge chunk of concrete fell to the ground. Sora and Riku barely jumped away in time._

_Riku, knowing he had little time, rushed out through a dark portal as quick as he could. Sora, however, barely had the strength to stand up again. Goofy and Donald rushed in, no longer hindered by the barrier, and helped him up, only to be forced from the platform by even more falling debris._

"_Wait," Sora called. "What about Kairi?" Goofy nodded, and was about to rush back up to get her, when a huge explosion from the Keyhole itself knocked them all back._

"_Oh no!" Goofy said in horror, as he looked on at the burning remains of what had been the platform. Everything within thirty feet of the Keyhole had been completely destroyed._

_A sharp, almost unbearable pain shot through Sora's heart, and for reasons he couldn't explain he was aware of the terrible fact more than even the sight before him could convey._

"_No… it can't be…" he gasped. "You can't… you can't die! Kairi!!!"_

---

Whoo, long chapter, huh? Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Well, except the depressing-ness... and be warned, there is more of that to come.

Please review!


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